Will return to Russia one day to run for president when...: Navalny's widow

Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, said that she would one day return to Russia and run for the post of president when Vladimir Putin is no longer in power, the BBC reported on Monday (Oct 21).

"My political opponent is Vladimir Putin. And I will do everything to make his regime fall as soon as possible," Navalnaya said and pointed out that when the time is right, she would participate in the election as a candidate.

While Putin, Russia's paramount leader since the last day of 1999, is still in power, Navalnaya said she would not return, the BBC report said. 

Alexei Navalny died in an Arctic prison in unclear circumstances in February. He had been serving sentences totalling more than 30 years on charges he said were rigged to silence his criticism of Putin.

Navalnaya accuses Putin of killing her husband 

Yulia Navalnaya has accused Putin of killing her husband,  a claim the Kremlin has repeatedly dismissed. In August, she dismissed information from investigators that Navalny had died from "a combination of diseases."

Also read | Hope to see Putin go from being 'tsar' to ordinary prisoner: Navalny's widow

Navalnaya also told BBC  that the Anti-Corruption Foundation she now leads in her husband’s place has evidence that she will reveal when they have "the whole picture."

'Hope to see Putin go from being 'tsar' to ordinary prisoner'

A few days back, Navalnaya said that she one day hoped to see Vladimir Putin go from being "tsar of Russia to an ordinary prisoner."

Navalnaya, who for many years has been based in Germany, told The Sunday Times that she would not return to Russia until she knew she "won't be imprisoned in an airport like Alexei", conceding that "nobody knows" when that might be possible.

In July, Moscow added Navalny's widow to its list of "terrorists" and "extremists", and also issued an arrest warrant.

On being asked about her feelings towards Putin, Navalnaya said that she did not hate the Russian president but wanted to see him in jail, "like my husband was."

(With inputs from agencies)